Reversible easel



Sept. 17, 1957 w. F. VERNON REVERSIBLE EAsEL Enea Jan. 19. 195s MMVA.

United States Patent i REVERSIBLE EASEL 'William F.`Vemon, Newton, Iowa, assignor to The Vernon Company, Newton, Iowa, acorporation of Iowa Applicatonlanuary .19., .1953,1-Serial No. 331,956

1 Claim. (Cl. 248-34) This invention relates to a reversible easel for advertising calendars and the like so that the support for the calendar may be used as such with the supporting face on which the calendar is mounted inclined upwardly and rearwardly relative to a table top or the like, or the foot 'of the easel may be reversed and the opposite face presented, which opposite face may have thereon a mirror, memo pad or the like as desired, the easel thus serving a double purpose due to its reversible character.

One object of the invention is to provide a reversible easel comprising a support and a leg pivotally mounted thereon so that the leg can be reversed relative to the support and thus either face of the support desired presented foremost.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reversible easel which is no more expensive to manufacture than the type that is not reversible but gives double service and which may be inexpensively made of plastic material or the like.

Still another object is to provide a pivotal connection between a foot and a support of the easel which permits ready assembly thereof by the user, the foot being relatively at when disconnected from the support and thereby occupying but small space during shipping.

A further `object is to provide a projection and socket connection between the foot and the support, the support being slotted to receive a hub-like portion of the foot, and the socket and projection connection being located in this slot.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the Various parts of my reversible easel, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

=Figure l is a perspective view of my reversible easel showing the back thereof containing a mirror and the front presenting a calendar to view.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the reversible easel with the foot thereof reversed with respect to that shown in Figure 1 so that the mirror is presented for use.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of Figure l and shows by dot-and-dash lines the reversal of the easel as in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a 'fragmentary perspective view of the lower portion of the support and the foot separated from each other.

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Figure 4 showing the position of the parts during assembly;

.and

Figure 6 is a similar sectional view showing the relationship of the parts after assembly.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the refer- -ence numeral 10 to indicate in general a support plate. "The support plate 10 may be for a calendar 16 which is `received in guide elements 14. These extend along the lower half only of the support 10 in order to leave a :space 17 on the support above the calendar for advertising 2,806,669 'Patented Sept. L17', v1957 expensive for givefaway novelties such as .desk calendars of the type disclosed.

My reversible easel is .designed for producing a double purpose device vsuch as a combined calendar Yand mirror. For this purpose a flange 12 aroundthe support plate'10 vis provided Ito receive the mirror indicated :at 1'5. The

mirror may be cemented or Votherwise suitably secured within the flange 12.

Preferably the support plate 10 is provided with a pair of projections 18 (see Figure 2) to serve as two points of support on a table top or the like indicated at 19 in Figure 3. I provide a foot 20 for the support plate 10 and this foot may Tbe of substantially triangular shape as shown with corners 21 and 23 and a hub 22. The foot 20 also may be formed of plastic material and one or the other of the corners 21 or 23 serve as a third point of support as will hereinafter appear.

The foot 20 is pivoted relative to the support plate 10 by means 'of a pair of projections 30 on adjacent ends of hub-like portions 32 of the support plate 10 which project into a slot 28 extending upwardly from the bottom of the support plate 10 as perhaps best shown in Figure 4. The projections 30 coact with an opening 24 through the boss 22 as shown in Figure 6. This arrangement permits the foot 20 to be adjusted as shown in Figure l (and in Figure 3 by dot-and-dash lines) with the corner 23 engaging the mirror 15 and the corner 21 engaging the table top 19. In Figure 2 the foot 20 is shown reversed so that its corner 21 engages the calendar 16 and its corner 23 engages the table top 19. In this latter position the mirror is presented for use so that the device can readily serve the double purpose of a calendar or a mirror in an obvious manner.

I have devised a simple arrangement for pivoting the foot relative to the support and this arrangement permits the 'device to be shipped knocked down, that is, with the -foot 20 disconnected from the support plate 10, and lying against one of its faces, The device is thus suitable for mailing in an envelope or the like.

When the user receives it, he can twist the lower edge of the support plate 10 to the dot-and-dash line position shown in Figure 4 with the hub-like portions 32 from which the projections 30 extend yout of alignment, cant the hub 22 between the two as illustrated in Figure 5, and then let the parts snap to the position of Figure 6 with the hub in the slot 28. The slot 28 is extended upwardly (but is narrower) as indicated at 26 to readily permit the twisting action. The parts are so formed that there is enough tension tending to close the slot 28 s'o that the projections 30 engage snugly in the ends of the bore 24 when the parts are in the final position shown in Figure 6 and the foot 20 is thereafter readily swingable from one position to the 'other for reversing the easel.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my reversible easel without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my invention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

A reversible easel comprising a support plate providing display surfaces on opposite sides thereof, said plate providing at its lower end a supporting edge having means adapted to engage a at surface, said plate having a slot therethrough extending into said supporting edge, a unitary fo'ot member of generally flat triangular shape having a pair of free corners and providing a hub at its third corner disposed in said slot to effect pivotal attachment to said plate adjacent its lower end, said hub and the free corners of said foot lying in a generally vertical plane disposed substantially at right angles to said display surfaces, one of said free corners `of said foot serving to engage said plate and the other Serving to'provide a point ofusurface'support in cooperation with said supporting edge meanswhen said foot is pivoted to a first display position substantially entirely at one side 'of said plate, whereby said foot serves to position said plate in upwardly inclined relation for presenting one of said display surfaces to View, and said pivotal connection permitting said foot to be reversed 4relative to said plate to a second display position substantially entirely at the other side of said plate, whereby said foot serves to position said plate in upwardly inclined relation for presenting the other of said display surfaces to view.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 532,063 Hitch Ian. 8, 1895 685,458 McIntyre Oct. 29, 1901 807,440 Conroy Dec. 19, 1905 1,006,334 Wright Oct. 17, 1911 1,272,703 Oppenheimer et al. July 16, 1918 1,902,011 Brewer Mar. 21, 1933 2,460,448 Brunetti Feb. 1, 1949 2,591,170 Levinson Apr. 1, 1952 

